New peak among improvements at Ragged Mountain Resort

My recommendation for skiing on this Martin Luther King Jr. three day weekend is at Ragged.

If you are looking for a nice day-trip near home during the course of the long weekend, Ragged has it in spades.

There is not usually a lift line here, due to its wealth of uphill-lift capacity.

From the six-passenger chairlift to its slow and long chair up Spear Mountain, Ragged also has great snow-making and grooming, which have been put into operation in advance of the weekend.

Thanks to the lure of a U.S. green card, Ragged Mountain is a ski resort about to expand.

Foreign investors could help fuel a $35 million first phase of renovation, which for skiers and riders will mean an additional 30 to 40 percent terrain -- a lot of it challenging and steep.

Now owned by a company based in Utah, they have the flexibility of owning 2,100 acres.

The future plan will also provide more mountain biking terrain, improved golf, and the creation of a mountain coaster, ropes course and other amenities which are not as dependent on snow.

And then there is the new mountain under construction.

When driving south on Route 3A in Bridgewater, I did a double-take while looking out across Newfound Lake. Not just two major peaks with snow streaked trails, Ragged was creating now a third, to the left.

It is called Pinnacle Mountain.

Loggers will be back out there this winter clearing more terrain for the future.

On New Year's Day, when it seemed the world was still asleep, I headed out with Bob Ashton, president and general manager, for a morning on some superb snow. It was a great way to start 2013.

He gave me an overview of the huge investment in snow-making now making a difference, and the priority list and the schedule of events for the next four or five exciting years at Ragged.

It all depends on how many EB-5 visas are requested and get approved.

Ragged Mountain Resort was designated an approved Capital Investment Project under the New Hampshire EB-5 Regional Center. It means that international investors can put up $500,000 in capital to develop the resort in exchange for a green card to enter the country. That card allows them to educate their kids in the United States.

The deal also means that the capital will lead to job creation, which needs to be documented. For each half a million, 10 new jobs have to be created.

The first phase includes raising up to $35 million to create 700 direct and indirect jobs in the state.

The investment will transform this day-use area in what the federal government considers a needy rural zone, into a slopeside ski-in, ski-out, season-round resort.

It will mean more vertical terrain, a diversification of trails, and amenities.

The same EB-5 program has led to investment at resorts like Jay Peak.

Ashton touted the huge investment in snow-making which is transforming the quality and quantity of snow on the trails, here, this winter.

In the past two years, it has invested in automated snow-making systems and has close to 300 new high-capacity, low-energy guns.

At the top of Ragged Peak, Ashton pointed to where loggers would be resuming clearing of new terrain, but noted that the whole project on the new Pinnacle Peak was still a year or two off.

Some of the first projects will include replacement of the Spear Mountain lift, which was once at King Ridg, with a new detachable high-speed quad lift. This will cut the ride time from about 12 minutes to four.

Also coming after that is a renovated base, with a hotel providing the first slopeside housing with single family housing to follow.

The plan is to build terrain down from the main area to allow the length of slope to extend from 1,200 to 1,500 vertical.

Also on the table is a new tubing park which is just below the current parking area and a mountain coaster.

Already, the resort has 50 trails including 11 glades, three terrain parks, and miles of groomed terrain. It is really a rather hidden treasure, between New London and Bristol.

In the spring, summer and fall, Ragged has an 18-hole, par-72 challenging course which is about to be reconfigured as part of the renovations.

Ashton said the company and the foreign investors are waiting for the federal government to approve visas but the plan to build the lift for next winter is going forward and the speed to which the phase progresses will be determined by investment.

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